Reader's Guide

Monday, December 10, 2007

Cho-Choju Giga

The Suntory Gallery, in Tokyo's new Midtown shopping-office-malling complex, is about to wrap up a fascinating look at what might well have been the first manga, ink illustrations on scrolls, some of which date from the 12th century. The oldest of the illustrations depicts animals doing things people would do-- or would have done 700 or 800 years ago. Most of the scenes involve frogs and rabbits, and you know this is a fantasy, because the frogs are as big as the rabbits, for one thing. There are other scrolls that show some more straightforward illustrations, such as sketches of religious activities or fables dealing with Buddhism, and even a sequence of what to put it gently might be called an ancient farting contest. The exhibit drew upon sets of these illustrations compiled by temples and other galleries and museums, and some illustrations that were not included in the scrolls. Historians are still trying to figure out who did the illustrations and why, but they have come up with some guesses and pieced together the illustrations based on what is known so far. We particularly liked the sumo competition, in which the frog, who has a tummy much like mine, is decked by a fox. There are illustrations of rabbits who might have been the inspiration for the Uncle Remus Br'er Rabbit stories, and pompous priest frogs and wild boars and monkeys giving each other baths--something Japanese monkeys actually do at hot spring resorts, without having to pay. Viewing the whole exhibit was out of the question, since some of the scrolls were rolled up to reveal other illustrations a week at a time, so it would have involved going back to the gallery weekly. There are stories, or fables, to go with some of the illustrations, something like Aesop's fables, only more to do with things like a mouse who wanted to marry a human princess, or the farmer who gave up his daughter to a monkey who agreed to help him till his paddies. It's more interesting to see than to write about. But here is what you missed (or will miss unless you get there by Dec. 12.)http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/sma/exhibition/07vol04/index.html

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Great Thoughts of the Moment

"Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunneling through a mountain with your forehead."

"You can live for many causes, but you can only die for one. Pick that one very carefully."

"Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now."

"Hyenas laugh becasue they know what's coming next."

"When I was 5 years old my mom told me the key to life is happiness. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wrote down "Happy". They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didnt understand life."

"Gun control is being able to hit your target."

"Going to church, temple, mosque or synagogue doesn't make you religious any more than standing in a garage makes you a car."

"Some people are alive today only because it's illegal to shoot them."

"The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes."

"Never take yourself too seriously, and mock those who do."

"Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling. "

"When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl. "

``Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.''

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger. "

"I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers. "

"Procrastination gives you something to look forward to."

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices"

"It takes 46 muscles to frown but only four to flip 'em the bird."

"Even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully."

"Everyone needs to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer. "

''Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

''The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake.''

"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm."

"The fisherman knows that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.'' (Vincent Van Gogh)"